WA miners told native title relationships need overhaul after Juukan
The entire WA mining industry has been told to go back to the drawing board to review existing agreements with native title owners.
The Parliamentary Committee looking into Rio Tinto’s destruction of 46,000-year-old heritage sites at Juukan Gorge has recommended the entire WA mining industry go back to the drawing board to review existing agreements with native title owners, while criticising Rio for putting commercial interests ahead of its social responsibilities.
The parliamentary inquiry, called after Rio’s decision to blast the sites caused global outrage that ultimately cost chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques his job, delivered its interim report to parliament on Wednesday, recommending Rio pay restitution to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) traditional owners and commit to rebuilding the gorge, as far as was possible.
The committee will not deliver its full report until late next year, and the majority report did not make any findings over Mr Jacques’ responsibility for the blast — or that of iron ore boss Chris Salisbury or corporate affairs chief Simone Niven, who both also resigned over the scandal — but criticised Rio’s corporate culture in the lead-up to the decision to blast the sites.
“The events immediately preceding the destruction of the rock shelters also reveal Rio Tinto’s legalistic approach to heritage protection, including a self-interested reliance on outdated laws and unfair agreements containing gag clauses prohibiting PKKP from critiquing the operations of the company and restricting their rights to access state and federal heritage protections without first obtaining the company’s consent,” the report says.
“Collectively, these deficiencies represent more than just a series of ‘unfortunate mistakes’ or mere ineptitude by individuals. Rio Tinto’s conduct reflects a corporate culture which prioritised commercial gain over the kind of meaningful engagement with traditional owners that should form a critical part of their social licence to operate.”
But the committee’s broader recommendations are likely to stoke fears within the mining industry that Rio’s disastrous decision could slow or halt construction of new mines, or the expansion of existing operations, at a time when commodity prices are powering many miners to new heights.
The cross-party committee, chaired by Queensland LNP MP Warren Entsch, called on the mining industry to immediately halt operations that could lead to the destruction of heritage sites, even when they have legal permission for their destruction under WA laws, unless companies can establish and verify there is “current free, prior and informed consent obtained from traditional owners”.
The committee report said there was no suggestion there should be an immediate freeze on mining developments until the WA government had passed a new Aboriginal Heritage Act to better protect important sites — which will now not happen until after the March 2021 state election — but said action needed to be taken immediately to “rebalance” the relationship between miners and traditional owners.
“It is important that traditional owners be seen as partners of industry, able to engage on equal terms with other land users. Traditional owners are not opposed to mining — that has been made clear in the evidence presented to the committee — but they wish the relationship between Indigenous people and the mining sector to be reset on more equitable terms,” the report says.
The report said the destruction of Juukan Gorge had highlighted the broader issue facing traditional owners, that the mishmash of state and federal regulatory regimes offered little protection for sites of cultural importance. “It has also highlighted the broader policy dilemma underlying these three legal frameworks: that of balancing the desire for development and wealth creation alongside the protection of the world’s oldest continuing culture,” the report said.
“What is clear is that this balancing act can no longer be maintained at the expense of First Nations people.”
It recommends that all WA mining companies commit to undertaking an independent review of existing land use agreements with native title holders, and immediately withdraw any of the so-called “gag clauses” — which prevent traditional owners from taking legal action to stop destruction of heritage sites, or even criticising mining companies in public — that are prevalent in the industry.
“In particular, companies should review final compensation clauses in recognition that free, prior and informed consent requires continuous review and engagement with traditional owners,” the recommendation says.
It also recommended the industry commit to cease any applications they have underway that would allow the destruction of heritage sites, and establish a system to share information with traditional owners.
More Coverage
